In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation that officially established June 14th as Flag Day. Congress followed up in 1949 by enacting a statute that officially recognized Flag Day.
Flag Day, however, is not an official federal holiday. While the statute leaves it to the president’s discretion to proclaim its observance, every president since Wilson has done so.
Flag Day commemorates the adoption of the U.S. flag of the United States, which occurred on June 14, 1777, by means of a resolution adopted by the Second Continental Congress. It also marks the birthday of the U.S. Army; Congress authorized “the American Continental Army” on June 14, 1775.
On June 14, 1937, Pennsylvania became the first state to celebrate Flag Day as a state holiday. New York designates the second Sunday in June as Flag Day and makes it a state holiday. Stony Hill School in Waubeka, Wisconsin, is the site of the first formal observance of Flag Day.